Stereoselectivity of mucorales lipases toward triradylglycerols—A simple solution to a complex problem

The lipases from Rhizopus and Rhizomucor are members of the family of Mucorales lipases. Although they display high sequence homology, their stereoselectivity toward triradylglycerols ( sn ‐2 substituted triacylglycerols) varies. Four different triradylglycerols were investigated, which were classified into two groups: flexible substrates with rotatable O'‐C1′ ether or ester bonds adjacent to C2 of glycerol and rigid substrates with a rigid N′‐C1′ amide bond or a phenyl ring in sn ‐2. Although Rhizopus lipase shows opposite stereopreference for flexible and rigid substrates (hydrolysis in sn ‐1 and sn ‐3, respectively), Rhizomucor lipase hydrolyzes both groups of triradylglycerols preferably in sn ‐1. To explain these experimental observations, computer‐aided molecular modeling was applied to study the molecular basis of stereoselectivity. A generalized model for both lipases of the Mucorales family highlights the residues mediating stereoselectivity: (1) L258, the C‐terminal neighbor of the catalytic histidine, and (2) G266, which is located in a loop contacting the glycerol backbone of a bound substrate. Interactions with triradylglycerol substrates are dominated by van der Waals contacts. Stereoselectivity can be predicted by analyzing the value of a single substrate torsion angle that discriminates between sn ‐1 and sn ‐3 stereopreference for all substrates and lipases investigated here. This simple model can be easily applied in enzyme and substrate engineering to predict Mucorales lipase variants and synthetic substrates with desired stereoselectivity.